Facebook Founder Donates Half a Billion Dollars to Charity

[didgetmaster]

Good for him. It is his money and he can do whatever he wants with it. If he flushed it down the toilet it wouldn't be any of my business (unless it clogged up my sewer line). Hopefully, the charity he chose will put the money to good use and benefit a lot of people.

For everybody complaining that he gets a tax deduction for it: even if the charity is a bloated, inefficient organization that wastes 70% of the donation and the cause itself is suspect, there is a decent chance it would still be a far better use of the money than giving it to the government in taxes.

 

[omnimodis78]

[citation][nom]didgetmaster[/nom]Good for him. It is his money and he can do whatever he wants with it. ...For everybody complaining that he gets a tax deduction for it: even if the charity is a bloated, inefficient organization that wastes 70% of the donation and the cause itself is suspect, there is a decent chance it would still be a far better use of the money than giving it to the government in taxes.[/citation]
Except that it's not really his money, it's just "money" available to him. And as for the tax deduction, yes, that's a very legitimate point to raise because a real donation usually has no quantitative benefits to the donor, but in this case, he is using company assets to net benefits (tax incentives) and 'heart warming' self-made news.

You know when you donate money to charity causes through stores (like that donation box at McDonald's to benefit kids, as an example), you do realize that the company then uses your donation as their own donation to the charity, for which they get tax breaks on their business. It's actually more of a tax-planning tactic from a business perspective than a philanthropic mandate.

 

[agentbb007]

These comments prove sometimes you just can't win. If he keeps his money he's greedy, if he donates his money he's greedy and looking for a tax deduction.

 

[fracture]

[citation][nom]agentbb007[/nom]These comments prove sometimes you just can't win. If he keeps his money he's greedy, if he donates his money he's greedy and looking for a tax deduction.[/citation]

Either way, it's a win win situation for him.

 

[fedelm]

[citation][nom]SteelCity1981[/nom]key word is 18 million facebook shares.[/citation]

Yeah, it's makes a huge difference.

I don't know how that's supposed to help the foundation...you can't buy things with FB stock (not yet anyway).

And yes i KNOW stock can be sold.

 

[xpeh]

Your move, Bill Gates

 

[GNCD]

[citation][nom]agentbb007[/nom]These comments prove sometimes you just can't win. If he keeps his money he's greedy, if he donates his money he's greedy and looking for a tax deduction.[/citation]

People need something to whine about.